


Strangers

by frankiesin



Series: Say It With Neon [16]
Category: Bandom, Panic! at the Disco
Genre: Crushes, Fluff, Gen, Spoilers for the MM17 Universe (Kinda)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-05 07:35:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16806250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frankiesin/pseuds/frankiesin
Summary: Rochelle and Ashley talk about Ashley's crush.(MM17 universe)





	Strangers

**Author's Note:**

> I kept going back and forth about publishing this one, since it has a semi-major spoiler for the third arc of the MM17 universe. And then I decided, fuck it, who knows how long it'll take for me to get to the third arc at this point. I wrote it, I might as well put it out into the world.

**January 9, 2017; Los Angeles, California.**

Rochelle had the windows open. It was a cool day, but not cold enough to warrant closing the windows. Jon and the kids were out at the beach so that Rochelle and Ashley could get work done on their own. It was nice. It was also quiet, because Rochelle didn’t like to listen to music when she read over other music. 

“So, what do you think?” Ashley asked. She was sitting on the edge of her seat, wearing a long black wig. 

“I like it, but I don’t think we should be the ones singing it together,” Rochelle said. The song was good, it was awesome, really, but it wasn’t something Rochelle would make on her own, and it wasn’t something she wanted to sing with her sister. Rochelle tucked a stray curl behind her ear. “It’s, um, really gay.”

“That’s the point.”

“And we’re really related,” Rochelle said, in case Ashley had somehow forgotten that. 

Ashley made a face. “Yeah, I know. I just don’t know who else to sing it with. I mean, shit, you know how fans get; they’ll ship me with anyone at this point.”

“At least people won’t keep shipping you and Josh,” Rochelle said. Ashley and Josh had dated, which was so weird for her. Josh was Dallon’s ex before he was Ashley’s, and it was weird to have to go from being friends with the guy (since he and Dallon had ended on good terms) to threatening to throw his body into the Pacific if he did anything to Ashley. 

“True,” Ashley said. “It was cute when we liked each other, but now that we’re just friends… it’s weird. I’m starting to feel a little bad about all the fanfiction I wrote as a teenager.”

“I don’t feel bad about mine,” Rochelle said, and grinned. “I was fucking good.”

“Hey, I ended up being a pretty good writer. I just started when I was twelve, and that fucked things up for me for a few years,” Ashley said. The two of them had laughed at their old LiveJournal profiles many times before, and had even filmed a video where they read snippets of each others’ old fics to each other. None of Rochelle’s smut had ended up in the final cut, mostly to keep Pete from haunting her. 

Ashley took her lyric book back and thumbed through a few pages. “So. If I’m not recording this with you, who should I do it with? I’ve talked to the label about it, but they keep throwing out straight girls, like, Katy Perry and people like that. I don’t want a straight girl. I want this thing to be fucking gay.”

“Then sing with someone who is fucking gay,” Rochelle said. She knew that there were a lot of lesbians and bisexual women out in the industry now, and that she and Hayley Williams had made that a thing women could be, but straight women were still the majority. “I mean, shit, you and Hayley could do it.”

“I asked her, and she said she’d be down, but that she doesn’t want to do too many singles without the band, you know?” Ashley said. “She’s Hayley Paramore, not just Hayley Williams.”

Rochelle snickered. “Hayley Paramore.”

“You know what I mean,” Ashley said, and flicked Rochelle’s knee. “Enough people think she’s a solo act. I don’t want to add to that.”

“Laura Jane Grace?” Rochelle suggested. “Do they have to be in a rock band, or was I just conveniently located?”

“They don’t,” Ashley said. “I just need someone I can vibe with. And someone whose voice’ll mesh well with mine. And someone who’s gay, obviously.”

“What about Pvris,” Rochelle said. She and Spencer had seen them last year, and she remembered the lead singer saying something about being gay. “I think you two might work.”

“I um, I don’t think--” Ashley said, mumbling half to herself. A faint blush had crossed her cheeks, and she was no longer looking at Rochelle. 

Rochelle grinned and poked her sister with her foot. “You like her.”

“Shut up,” Ashley said, but she didn’t argue.

“Oh, you have to do the song with her now. That’d be perfect,” Rochelle said. She was trying not to actually laugh at Ashley, because that would be a little mean, and Rochelle wasn’t that type of woman. Teasing was fine; they were related. Laughing at her sister’s crush was a little too much. “Straight out of one of our old fanfictions kind of perfect.”

“I’m not doing that,” Ashley said. 

Rochelle put her hands up. “Well, your choice. But hey, it’s not my fault if you don’t take advice from the woman who met her husband through fic shit. I know what I’m doing.”

* * *

**March 10, 2017; Auburn, Michigan.**

Ashley ended up choosing a girl named Lauren from a group Rochelle didn’t really listen to. Their voices worked well together, though, so Rochelle couldn’t really complain. 

“So Lauren and I went on a date,” Ashley said over the phone. She was back in LA while Rochelle and Panic were on tour. Rochelle was in the tour bus watching her kids and the boys lose their shit over some fidget spinners Brendon had picked up a few states ago. 

“How was that?” Rochelle asked, and mouthed  _ Ashley _ to Jon when he looked over. 

“Okay. Fun, really. I don’t think we’ll go on a second one, though,” Ashley said. “Nothing against her, but I finally took your advice and called Lynn up.”

“Lynn?” Rochelle asked, raising an eyebrow. She couldn’t think of anyone she knew named Lynn, unless Ashley had decided to give Linda a nickname for no reason. 

“Lynn Gunn, from Pvris,” Ashley said. Rochelle could hear her rolling her eyes through the phone. “You know, the girl you wanted me to sing with because you’re a horrible sister and you love seeing me embarrass myself in public?”

“You make really dumb faces,” Rochelle said. Rochelle had made one of the more recent ones into her contact photo for Ashley on her phone. “So, did you get a date out of it?”

“Yes, obviously,” Ashley said. “Do you think I’d be calling you if it hadn’t worked out?”

“Good point,” Rochelle said. Ashley didn’t need an intimidating, cool older sister, since she had two younger brothers who were willing to step in when Rochelle couldn’t. She made a mental note to google Lynn Gunn anyway, just to make sure Ashley wasn’t doing anything dumb. “Is it, like, official yet or are you two just doing that thing where you dance around your feelings for three years before acting on them?”

“Not every gay girl is useless,” Ashley said. 

“I am,” Rochelle said. 

Ashley laughed. “You’re the fucking exception, you ass.”

“Maybe my use-ness is genetic,” Rochelle said. She cringed at her own wording. “Usefulness. I swear I can speak English.”

“Okay, sure,” Ashley said. “Text me when the show’s over. We still have to figure out if we can hang out when you guys are in San Diego.”

“Bring your girlfriend,” Rochelle said, because she could. She hung up, and she wasn’t surprised when Ashley texted her the middle finger emoji and  _ shes not my gf (yet) >( _ . Rochelle laughed and texted something back before returning to the people in front of her. She’d see Ashley later, and they would pick up right where they’d left off. Just like they always did. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment/kudos if you enjoyed!


End file.
